Japanese artist Yasuhiro Suzuki has created a motorboat designed to look like a giant zip which 'opens the sea up' as it travels along. Photo: Yasuhiro Suzuki

Do you remember times when boats looked like boats?! So, those days suddenly seem like a long time ago, don’t they?! Now it appears you can’t look out to sea without seeing four or five novelty shaped ships.

The not entirely imaginatively titled “The Zipper Ship” is the creation of a Japanese artist who has been working on the idea for the past seven years.

Wacky artist Yasuhiro Suzuki though has created a motorboat designed to look like a giant zip, with the wake it leaves behind in the water meant to represent its teeth.

Suzuki made a scale model of his design back in 2004 and has only now unveiled the final version at the Setouchi International Art Festival in Japan. Photo: Yasuhiro Suzuki

Yasuhiro Suzuki first produced a scale model of his design – which looks just like a giant floating zipper tab – back in 2004, but he’s now turned it into a full-sized vessel.

Yasuhiro Suzuki, describing his creation, says: “This work is a boat modelled after a zipper tab. As the vessel glides through the water, the wake looks like a zipper coming undone, suggesting the image of the sea opening up.”

“The Zipper Ship will travel to and fro between Takamatsu and Megijima [in Japan] and will also carry passengers,” he added.

The Zipper Ship will travel to and fro between Takamatsu and Megijima in Japan and will also carry passengers," says Yasuhiro Suzuki. Photo: Yasuhiro Suzuki

Suzuki first showed off his unique vessel at the recent Setouchi International Art Festival in Japan. The boat is now undergoing sea trials to evaluate its rollover risk and until it’s approved by the authorities the ambitious artist will have to wait before he can take passengers for a ride.

Suzuki has won several awards, including the Interactive art prize at the Digital Stadium Awards in 2001, since graduating as a designer from Tokyo Zokei University. His other works include Perspective of the Globe Jungle, created in 2001, and Property of Water in 2004.

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